Portable desk.



No. 753,858. PATENTED'MAR. ai 1904.

T. GRAM.

.PORTABLE DESK.

APPLIOATION FILED MAY 2a. 1903.

N0 MODEL.

. am agmnu UNITED iSTATES Patented March 8, 1904.

PATENT OFFICE.

PORTABLE DESK.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 753,858, dated March 8, 1904. Application led May 23, 1903. Serial No. 158,506. (No model.\

To all whom it may concern: y

Be it known that I, THOMAS CRAM, a citizen of vthe United States, residing at Detroit, in

the county of Wayne and State of Michigan,

have invented new and useful Improvements in Portable Desks, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to new and useful improvements in portable desks; and its object is to provide a simple, light, and inexpensive device upon which one or more sheets of paper can be secured, said securing means being so constructed as to hold the sheets of paper away from the board after they have been turned backward therefrom. The device is especially adapted for use in the open air or in other places where a current of air is likely to disturb the sheets of paper which have been turned away from the board subsequent to their use.

The invention consists in providing a board having a spring-clip at one end thereof for holding a tablet or one or more sheets of paper in proper position. The handle of this clip has a slot therein which is parallel with the adjoining end of the board, and the edges of this slot are curved downward, so as to guide one edge of a sheet of paper into the slot. After the paper has beenA inserted through this slot it is obvious that it will be prevented from blowing back into its original position upon the board, and therefore the attention of the writer will not be diverted by the sheet being blown back into normal position upon the board.

The invention also consists in the. further 1 novel construction and combination of parts hereinafter more fully described and claimed, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, showingthe preferred form of my invention, and in which- Figure l is a plan view of the device. Fig. 2 isA an end elevation thereof, and Fig. 3-is a section through theclip. Referring to the figures by numerals of reference, l is a board of any suitable size and material and having a bracket Qsecured at one end and provided with upwardly-extending ears 3. A rod 4 is arranged within the ears, and mounted thereon are ears 5, which extend downward from opposite sides of a clip adapted to normally bear upon the board l1. A'spring 7 is coiled upon rod 4, and the ends thereof bear upon the clip and the board '1, respectively. The handle 8 of the clip is enlarged, so that the length thereof is nearly equal to the width of board l, and this handle has a longitudinally-extending slot 9 therein, the edges of which are curved downward, as shown at 10, Fig. 3.

In using this device one or more sheets of paper'are placed upon the board and under the clip 6, and said clip serves to bind them firmly in position. After the first sheet has been used the free edge thereof is bent backward and inserted through the slot 9V and is held in position therein, thereby leaving the next sheet exposed. The sheet within the slot the edges thereof are placed upon the handlel 8. By arranging the slot 9 in alinement with one end of board l it will be seen that the leaves after being inserted through the slot will be guided over` the end of the board.

In the foregoing description I have shown the preferred form of my invention; but I do not limit myself thereto, as I am aware that modifications may be made therein without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages thereof, and I therefore reserve the right to make such changes as fairly fall within the scope of my invention.

Having thus'described the invention, what is claimed as new is- In a device lof the character described, the combination with a board having a springclip at one end thereof; of a handle to the clip having a longitudinally-extending slot therein parallel with and adjacent to one end of the board and extending transversely thereof, said slot being longer than the clip, and downwardly-curved longitud inally-extendingedges to the slot forming guides.

In testimony whereof I aii'ix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

- THOMAS CRAM.

Witnesses:

E. P. LANKIN, H. F. WHITTIER. 

